Wireless Peripherals? 14
Now that wireless technologies are more-or-less a household name,
BSDevil wonders if it's possible to use such technologies (ie Bluetooth,
802.11, etc) as a replacement for those situations where long ungainly
cables are usually called for: "My laptop and printer are placed
such a way that running a cable from one to the other would just plain
suck (too long if not direct, if direct then in the way, etc.) and
because both are about a year old. I want (to make, if need be) a little box that I plug
into my Parellel port on the laptop and one that I plug into the port
on the back of my Printer, and have them talk and print and be merry.
Power could either be directly off the port (best) or from a
rechargable battery inside the thing that is used to power the system
when transmitting, and recharges when not - like a big capacitor - off
the power of the Port. Does it exist, and if not, any ideas on making
one?" And if such can work for printers, why not other peripherals
as well?
How about 10BT bridge? (Score:3)
Why? I don't have the ability to run cable from my "lan" area to my stereo without it looking extremely unsightly. But I'd love to be able to buy an audiotron. If I had such a bridge, I'd be all set.
Does anyone out there know of such a thing, for a reasonable cost?
Re:How about 10BT bridge? (Score:3)
Essentially, I'd like a IEEE802.11->10BT bridge... Does anyone out there know of such a thing, for a reasonable cost?
Unless I'm missing something, *many* such devices are available. They're called Wireless Access Points. Are they reasonably priced? The cheapest I've seen are around $130.
Personally, I have one made by SMC and I'm buying another one, probably a Linksys. I plan to carry the SMC around with me; it's compact enough to fit very nicely into my laptop bag, and it's very convenient when I go into the office or to a client site to be able to plug my AP into the LAN and then wander with my laptop (only in low-security environments, of course; some of my clients would string me up if I plugged an AP into their LAN, and for good reason.)
Re:How about 10BT bridge? (Score:3)
Buy two Linksys WAP11's (Score:3)
LLAMA
Unsightly (slightly OT)? (Score:1)
The only reason I can think of is because you live in an apartment - but this isn't a reason at all!
I say this because of my years of apartment living. Given a bit of work, it is possible to route a wire anywhere, and make it look good. The easiest way is to run it next to the baseboards, just underneath the carpet, along the walls. Where you have to go through a wall, drill the holes, and poke the cable through. You might also be able to pry back the baseboards, and install in the crack between the drywall and flooring. Nail the baseboards back, and repaint.
Spackling compound and plaster are your friends. Get a sample of paint (or ask you landlord) and have it colormatched - buy a gallon or two (the latter if you are really ambitious). I remember installing a desk into a walk-in closet - because there was no good joists to hang the desktop from (really crappy closet design), I had to glue and nail the load bearing members to the paint/drywall in the closet. Of course, when I moved, I had to remove these "shelves" - and ripped the paint down to the drywall and beyond (ie, the cardboard - ack!). A bit of spackle, some colormatched paint, and a bit of artfully crinkled paper (to match the "texture") - and I got my deposit back no prob (it looked good, believe me - but just in case, I slightly unscrewed the light, etc to deter close looking).
Various manufacturers also make baseboard-style conduit in various colors - and they can be painted as well. Typically, they are used to run phone or electrical circuits - but they can be used for just about anything, including network cable, etc. You can find them at most big home centers (Home Depot, Lowes, etc). They aren't too cheap for long runs, but they look better than PVC pipe (which could be used in a pinch, I suppose - painted a neutral off-white color, and laid along the baseboards - wouldn't look too bad). These conduits aren't a new idea, BTW - in the "olde-days", phone and electric wiring used to be run in a similar manner in wooden conduits - many times the conduits would be disguised as baseboards, ceiling cornices, and chair rails - so there is another idea (for network cabling only - not sure if it would match code, though - check into it if you care).
If you aren't in an apartment - I appologize. But if you aren't, then where are you living that is preventing such a cable run? If it is your own house, there shouldn't be a problem - same for a condo or townhome. I am really curious...
Re:Unsightly (slightly OT)? (Score:2)
Yes, I own the house. But it is a decidedly non-traditional house.
The house is an open, three-story loft-style abode. This means that there are 3.5 floors, all open to a central core, with no internal walls to speak of! (other than bathroom, half-bath, a few closets).
And, as there is no basement or attic, I can't run under or over to get from one side of the house to another, which is where a cable run would need to go -- due to arrangement of the "office" on floor 2.5 and the entertainment center on the ground floor on the opposite wall.
I could pull the baseboard off, but I would have to drill a hole through each and every stud in one wall to get a cable to my TV/stereo cabinet -- this is not terribly practical.
I could rearrange the entire "downstairs" to accomodate this project, but I like the way things are set up!
Plus, this is the wireless era! I should be able to do this
Thought you might come back... (Score:1)
Definitely not designed with networking in mind (for all I know is probably because it wasn't designed or built recently)...
Can you run the cable on the outside? In other words, out a wall up the side, over the top, and down the other side and through the wall? Are there any conduits to allow this?
Given your situation, it truely does look like wireless is the only option...
I Want one for me! (Score:1)
the mouse, keyboard, printer, scanner, zip drive, stereo, telephone, pda, lan, of course.
and I want to turn on/off the light without a electric instalation, just the key glued to the wall and a little box in the cable.
how much I have to wait?
Have them already (Score:4, Informative)
The units themselves are buried in a box, and used a presumably proprietory RF system .. i.e. not 900MHz, etc.
Doing a google on 'wireless printing' gave me this link to aerocomm [aerocomm.com] which has a similar product, but which is faster .. 1mbps.
Still, a little searching youeself would have been better.
gus
Wireless Peripherals (Score:2, Informative)
It seems to support Bluetooth out of the box. A little pricey to me, but it seems like a good deal.
Your options... (Score:1)
PC parallel isn't too tough to do, it's slow by modern standards, though. Most of your options will be with newer interfaces.
Wireless is OK, again you're paying money for this.
I would suggest a good old telephone interface (PhoneNet for Macs, about $20) or one of the Phone networking solutions for PCs (maybe $100). Plug the PC into your home phone lines and same with the printer, they can be anywhere phone lines can go. This works because your phone wiring/connectors should be 4-pin and the phone only uses 2.
Re:Your options... (Score:2)
Cost is around 50 quid or so ($75-ish) for a basic one.
Wireless DIsplay (Score:1)
Broadband router with print server (Score:2, Informative)
I go DSL line -> SMC router -> Wireless AP.
I only paid around $70 for the SMC, and I needed a router anyway so the print server part was a bonus, but now I can't live without it!